Significant updates to the Draft Local Plan

All comments received in last year’s regulation 19 pre-submission consultation about any unchanged aspects of the plan will remain valid, and will not be subject to further consultation.

There have been no significant changes to the Local Plan which affect Effingham Residents. Effingham village is to be inset from the Green Belt. The former Wisley Airfield is still included in the Local Plan.

Significant changes that have occurred to the Local Plan, and are being consulted upon include:

  • reduced total housing target by 1,400 units until end of plan period in 2034
  • reduced housing need from 693 to 654 units per year – revised Objectively Assessed Need (OAN) for housing in updated Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA): Guildford Addendum
  • sites removed completely from the plan – primarily for homes in rural areas such as a large site in Normandy and Flexford for 1,100 residential units
  • updated sites with reduced numbers of homes during the plan period – primarily in green belt areas such as Gosden Hill Farm and Blackwell Farm, with 300 fewer residential units at each site, due to phasing of delivery expected beyond 2034
  • updated sites with increased numbers of homes – primarily brownfield in the town centre such as 200 more residential units on the North Street redevelopment
  • updated sites for student accommodation and Travelling Showpeople – such as Guildford College changing from 100 homes to 200 student accommodation units instead and land at Garlick’s Arch site that is now accommodating six Travelling Showpeople plots
  • new sites for employment floor space/industrial land – such as land around Burnt Common warehouse is the new site for 7,000sqm of industrial land moved from the site at Garlick’s Arch
  • new rail station at Guildford West, Park Barn – is now included as a site allocation
  • reduced total growth requirements from last year’s Local Plan
    • Housing – by 1,400 units
    • Office and research and development floor space – by between 1,100 and 3,500sq m
    • Industrial employment land – by between 1 and 1.2 hectares
    • Comparison retail floor space – by 5,955 sq m (meeting needs to 2030 due to uncertainties in the long term forecasting).

Further details of the revised draft Local Plan may be found here

If you wish to comment on the changes to the draft Local Plan, you should do so by 24 July 2017. Comments can be submitted online for by emailing the planning department at Guildford Borough Council. Further details on the consultation can be found here

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *